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Movies / On DVD / Around the Bend
Around the Bend

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Around the Bend (2004)

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29 %
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Reviews Counted:92

Fresh:27

Rotten:65

Average Rating:4.9/10

Runtime: 85 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: "Around the Bend" is inspired by the relationship between writer-director Jordan Roberts and the absentee father he barely knew. It tells the story of four generations of men who are suddenly... "Around the Bend" is inspired by the relationship between writer-director Jordan Roberts and the absentee father he barely knew. It tells the story of four generations of men who are suddenly brought together by the chance to uncover the truth about their family's past. The journey will take them out on the road to a world full of surprises-some comic, some dramatic, and all of them personal. Jason Lair (Josh Lucas) is a simple man with a simple wish: a normal life. This isn't an easy goal for the mild-mannered bank employee: Jason is newly separated from his wife, who has left him to care for their six-year-old son Zach (Jonah Bobo) while she paints in Nepal, and his ailing grandfather Henry (Oscar® winner Michael Caine), a former archaeologist close to death, is investigating alternative rituals for his impending funeral ("I'm not going in the ground!" he protests.) So when Jason's estranged father and Henry's son Turner (Oscar® winner Christopher Walken), whose checkered past includes exploits from the musical to the criminal, pays the family an unexpected visit, nothing is 'simple' or 'normal' in Jason's life anymore. In the coming days, the somewhat reluctant Lair men will embark on a trip not only through the mythic beauty of the Desert Southwest, but across the family's own rocky emotional landscape. Forced together by a deep loss, these very different people find a great deal along the way-devastating secrets, amazing discoveries and, just as Henry wanted… each other. Warner Independent Pictures presents a Kirkham-Lewitt Production "Around the Bend," directed by Jordan Roberts from his original screenplay. Producers are Elliott Lewitt and Julie Kirkham. Executive Producer is Ronald G. Smith. Director of photography is Michael Grady. Production designer is Sarah Knowles. Editor is Francoise Bonnot, A.C.E. Costume designer is Alix Friedberg. Composer is David Baerwald. The film stars Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas and Michael Caine. Also in the film are Glenne Headly, Jonah Bobo and Kathryn Hahn. -- © Warner Independent [More]

Starring: Christopher Walken, Joshua Lucas, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly

Starring: Christopher Walken, Joshua Lucas, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly, Jonah Bobo, Norbert Weisser, David Eigenberg

Director: Jordan Roberts

Director: Jordan Roberts
Screenwriter: Jordan Roberts
Producer: Julie Kirkham, Elliot Lewitt
Composer: David Baerwald
Studio: Warner Independent

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Reviews for Around the Bend

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An unusual, oddly satisfying film that's part road movie and part emotional drama.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
04/23/05
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/20/05
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Michael Caine and Christopher Walken breath spirited life into debut writer/director Jordan Roberts' road trip of family bonding in this independent movie with a big heart.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/18/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

...in many ways the softer scenes have more punch to them than any of the emotional confrontations or dramatic revelations

Full Review Source: www.kcactive.com | comment Comment
07/25/05
Uri Lessing
Uri Lessing
www.kcactive.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Oozes sentimentality for the plight of these mildly eccentric characters... The problem isn’t the film’s gooey center but the flavorless, formulaic substance surrounding it.

Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema | comment Comment
04/14/05
Mark Pfeiffer
Mark Pfeiffer
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

There's not much happening even when the viewer eventually gets around the bend.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/31/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The film is not quite the deep drama or outrageous comedy it tries to be, but an engaging little story nonetheless.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/24/05
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

... a student film that benefits from the participation of solid professionals.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
01/07/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Zertinet Movies | comment Comment
12/27/04
Steven Snyder
Steven Snyder
Zertinet Movies

O diretor e roteirista estreante exibe um autêntico desespero em emocionar o público com os personagens e tom tipicamente “indies”, mas o resultado é simplório e entediante.

comment Comment
11/25/04
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

The film is a modest vehicle for large talents and should have earned its funding as a matter of product placement.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
11/24/04
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

...the kind of movie that gives sincerity a bad name.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
11/08/04
Sean Burns
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

At times it almost feels as if the movie is making fun of itself, acknowledging just how familiar and overdone most of this material is.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
11/05/04
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Roberts lets his actors run loose, leading to such embarrassments as Caine's unidentifiable accent or Glenne Headly's turn as Henry's Danish * nurse.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
11/05/04
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

I liked "Around the Bend" enough to wish it were a better movie.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
11/05/04
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Technically a motion picture, Around the Bend is essentially an advertisement for Kentucky Fried Chicken. It also happens to be mind-numbingly cloying.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
11/04/04
Paul Doro
Paul Doro
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
 
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Latest News for Around the Bend

January 12, 2006: Critical Consensus: A Regal "Holiday," A Well-Trodden "Road," A Tepid "Tristan"
This week at the movies brings us films about a risk-averse woman cutting loose ("Last Holiday"), a groundbreaking underdog basketball team ("Glory Road"),... More...

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